The invention relates to an actuating device for a vehicle transmission, in particular of tracked vehicles or wheeled vehicles having a wheel-based steering system.
In particular in military vehicles having automatic transmissions, it is known in general to control the transmission by means of an electric remote controller. Here, electric signals are generated in a selector device, which electric signals are forwarded, for example via an electronic computer, to the electric actuating valves of the hydraulic transmission controller and trigger the corresponding shifting operation there. The electric signals which are generated contain information about the gear to be selected or automatic mode, and signals for the driving direction.
In military tracked vehicles, there is additionally a signal for the special case of precise pivoting of the vehicle about the vertical axis with a locked change-speed gearbox. Here, the levers for the gear and for the driving direction are separate, that is to say there is a separate lever for shifting the transmission ratio and a further separate lever for the driving direction.
Military vehicles are usually provided additionally with an emergency shifting device, in which the transmission hydraulics are acted on directly by means of a mechanical lever. When the emergency lever is actuated, the electric remote controller is switched off. This emergency shifting device is required in order for it to be possible to maintain an emergency driving mode if the electric devices or the electronics fail. The emergency shifting lever is a further separate lever which is usually also arranged in the vehicle in a manner which is spatially separate from the electric selector lever.
An additional mechanical signal for the driving direction is required for many additional devices on the vehicle, such as a steering-direction switchover means in a tracked vehicle or a wheeled vehicle having a wheel-based steering system.
Different signals for the driving direction which lead to malfunctions in additional devices of this type could be output by the different separate levers of the above-described transmission actuating devices.
It is the object of the invention to provide an operationally reliable actuating device for a vehicle transmission.
As a result of the actuation of the electric remote shifting and of the emergency shifting being combined according to the invention on one lever, it is advantageously prevented that a driving-direction signal provides incorrect results or results which are not expected by the driver as a result of the driving-direction lever and the emergency shifting lever being actuated in opposite directions.
In every one of its different functions, the actuating lever according to the invention advantageously always supplies a definite mechanical signal for forward or reverse driving.
As the actuation of the emergency shifting is not always monitored electrically, it is particularly advantageous for reasons of safety to assign an unchanging definite mechanical signal to the emergency shifting.
Further features and advantages result from the following description.